Far East Sues West

It has emerged this week that Kanye West, and his apparel brand, Yeezy Apparel Inc. (Yeezy), are being sued by a Japanese textiles company Toki Sen-I Co. The Yeezy apparel brand, founded in 2015, has been a successful and lucrative venture for West: the brand is now in its sixth season. It was announced this week however, that West is under fire from Toki Sen-I Co. after it alleged that it has not been paid by Yeezy for its services.

The claim, filed in the Superior Court in Los Angeles by Toki Sen-I Co., accuses West's company of breach of contract, fraud and negligent misrepresentation. According to the filing, the amount of $624,051.76 was agreed to be paid by Yeezy to the Japanese company for an order of fleece fabric.

The filing goes in to detail about how a 50% part-payment was agreed to be paid by Yeezy to Toki Sen-I Co. upon the commencement of the production of the fleece and how this amount was later negotiated down to a 30% part-payment. Toki Sen-I Co., however, alleges that it has not received any payment.

Toki Sen-I Co. alleges that, as a result of the breakdown of the contract, it was left with over 53,000 yards of fleece fabric made specifically in line with Yeezy's requirements. It is reported that Toki Sen-I Co. was also left out of pocket after having to pay for storage space to keep the thousands of yards  of fleece fabric.

Toki Sen-I Co. is suing for the money owed under the contract as well as for punitive damages and interest.  Both West and Yeezy are yet to comment on the filing.

If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniel & Co. on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.